Improvement in fare controllers and indicators



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. L. VON

FARE-CONTROLLE D INDICATOR. No 184,450 Patented Nov .14, 1876.

iwitnesses 2 SheesSheet 2.

L. VON HOVEN. FARE-CONTROLLER AND INDICATOR. No,184;,450 PatentedNov. 14;, 1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS VON HOVEN,OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FARE CONTROLLERS AND INDICATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 184,450, dated November 14, 1876; application filed October 18, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS VON HOVEN, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fare Gontrollers and Indicators; and I do hereby declare'the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of my invention; and Fig. 2 is an elevation of my invention attached to a broken section of a vehicle, with the signal thrown down, so as to expose the watch to the gaze of the occupant.

My invention has reference to the Letters Patent granted to me for fare controller and indicator, dated May 23, 1876, No. 177,900;

and has for its object to provide an additional safeguard for the prevention of peculation by the drivers of cabs and other vehicles to which said patented fare controller and indicator is applied.

My present improvements consist in the employment of a watch, or equivalent timepiece, for telling the hour of the day, attached to the signal, or standard supporting the same, in such manner that when said signal is raised, indicating that the vehicle is for hire, the watch will be elevated and out of sight of the passenger within; but when said signal is lowered (as it should be whenever a passenger is obtained) the watch is brought into the interior of the vehicle, or within view of the passenger, who can thus observe the time of day and calculate the amount of fare to be paid (as he will be requested by notice within the vehicle to do) by the time shown by said watch during the hiring.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a fare controller and indicator constructed in substantial conformity with my patent above named, A is the case containing the clock which notes the time the vehicle is hired, as fully set forth in my said patent; and B, the signal, so arranged that when elevated, as shown in Fig. 1, indicating that the vehicle is for hire, said clock will be stopped, and when depressed or reversed, as shown in Fig. 2, said clock will be started and allowed to run for the purpose set forth. 0 is a watch or equivalent time-piece, secured to the standards b b, which support the signal B, or to any equivalent part permitting the accomplishment of the same result, so that when said signal is up and the notice To Hire displayed, the watch will not be visible within the vehicle, while when said signal is down the watch will appear within the vehicle, enabling the passengers to note the hour of the day and the time which elapses while they occupy the vehicle.

The operation is substantially as follows: The clock within the case A will be wound up and used to register, as against the driver, the time his vehicle has actually been in hire, (as fully explained inmy aforesaid patent,) and not the time of day. The watch 0 will also be wound up and kept going continuously, being set and arranged to keep the exact time of day, and to show the same, no matter at what hour consulted. A notice within the vehicle will instruct passengers that, when they enter, a watch will appear, and they will be requested by said notice to observe the time indicated by it on entering and leaving, and to pay their fare for theintermediate time only.

By this means the driver will be compelled to turn down the signal, so as to let passengers see the watch by which the notice instructs them they are to compute their fare, and each passenger will thus become a sort of detective as against the driver, while at the same time the turning down of the signal, causing the clock in the case A to start, will produce the registration of the time of hiring, as explained in my said patent.

What I claim as my invention is In a fare controller and indicator having a signal for informing the public when the vehicle to which it is applied is for hire, and a clock so combined with said signal that it will be stopped when the latter is displayed, a time-piece arranged in connection with said signal, substantially as described, so as to be brought into view of the occupant of the vehicle when the signal is down, and withdrawn from observation within said vehicle when the signal is up, as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of October, 1876.

LOUIS VON HOVEN.

Witnesses:

CHARLES D. POSTON, WM. NELsoN GRoMwELL. 

